Corset-clasp



(No Model.)

DE VBR H. WARNER.

CORSET CLASP.

Patented Ma PETERS. mlwumo w wnmngim D. C.

" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DE VER HOWVARD \VARNER, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT.

CORSET-CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 404,135, dated May 28, 1889.

Application filed February 23, 1889. Serial No. 300,899. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, DE VER HOWARD WAR- NER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfi eld and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Corset-Steel Clasps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the make and use ful improvements in clasps for corset-steels,v

and has for its object to provide a device of this description which shall be simple in its construction, the locking elements of which may be readily engaged to hold the corset in adjusted position upon the body of the wearer, and which may be disengaged with equal facility and without the employment of both hands in effecting such disengagement, as is necessary in the common button'hole clasps now in use.

With these ends in view my invention consists in the construction as hereinafter set forth and as recited in the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may fully understand the construction and operation thereof, I will describe the same in detail, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a pair of steels provided with my improved fastening and shown in locked position; Fig. 2, an edge View of the female steel and clasps; Fig. 3, a plan View of the two steels separated.

Like letters and numerals denote the same parts in all the figures.

A denotes one of the steels of the pair, and B its complementary steel.

Upon the steelAare secured hooks 1, whose forward edges are oblique to the sides, as at 2, for the purpose presently set forth. Secured upon the steel B are open-fronted housings 3, which said housings may be open or closed at their rear side, according to the convenience of manufacture. Each of these housings is slotted through its top surface, as seen at 4.

5 is a wire extending along the surface of the steel B, having its upper end bent to form one or more resilient loops, 6. The extremity of said wireabove the spring-sections is secured .to the face of the steel, as at 7. This wire passes beneath the housings, and at a point within each of said housings is bent upward and returned to the surface of the steel to form an engaging-latch, 8, whose end preferably projects through the slotted top of the housings, so as to guide" the movements of said latch.

Below the lowermost housing the wire is provided with meansas, for instance, the cord 9whereby said wire may be moved in the direction of its length against the power of the spring. In engaging a pairof steels provided with the clasps herein described the ends of the hooks are introduced into the housings between the top of said housing and the latch, said space being denoted by 10, Fig. 2. As pressure is applied to force the hooks into these spaces, the latches are displaced by the oblique faces of the entering hooks until the heads have passed the latches, when the latter are, by means of the springloops, drawn up so as to engage behind said heads.

In disengaging the steels the wire is pulled downward by means of the operatin g-cord, and thereby the latches are disengaged from the hooks and the latter are left free to back out of the housings. The contraction of the body, due to the pressure of the corset thereon,will effect this backing out of the hooks as soon as the latches are removed from their engagement.

In the drawings I have shown a pair of steels provided with two of the hook-and-latch fastenings, the end clasps being of the usual studand-button-hole type. It will be readily understood, however, that the whole number of clasps may be like those at the center, if desired; but I find that at least one stud-andbutton clasp, either at the top or bottom, is advantageous, as by hooking this first it forms a fulcrum upon which, by means of the ends of the steels, the other clasps may be caused to engage. It also insures the accurate entry of the hooks into the housings.

In this my invention I do not wish to be confined to the precise details of construction herein shown anddescribed, since many minor changes entirely Within the province of mechanical skill may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention. For instance, While I find the spring-loops 1y ing flat on the face of the steel to be advantageous, their form as shown is not essential. The operating-cord might be replaced by a knob or tag, or the bends of wire which form the latches might be less or more sharp, according as convenience of manufacture might dictate. The position of the wire upon the steel also may be reversed, so as to bring the spring at the bottom and the cord at the top, which would be equivalent to simply inserting the steels, as illustrated, into the corset bottom end upward.

-I claim 1. In a corset-steel fastening, the combination, with the hooks upon one of the steels, of the open-ended housings, into which the hooks may slide,'the wire extending along the face o e steel b e h t hous ng and he doubled latch-sections of said wire, one within each housing, whereby the hooks are retained as against retrograde movement, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a corset-steel fastening, the combination, with the hooks stationary upon one steel, j of the open housings upon the other steel in 1 the path of the hooks, and the wire extended along the steel beneath the housings and doubled within each housing, said doubled site said hooks, a wire spring actuated in thedirection of its length passing beneath each of the housings, a series of projecting latches rigid on the wire, one within each housing, and means, as a cord, for imparting lengthwise movement to said wire, as specified.

4. The combinatiom'in a corset-steel fastening, with one of the steels thereof and the hooks arranged upon said steel, each hook having an oblique [front edge, of the complem n a y teel, the open housi gs secu ed the eon and sl ted through the r top Sure es, t e wi e ying" ong the stee and havs h spri g-l p at t upp end, the latches on said wire, one within each housing n engag g w h the lot herei and the operating-cord secured to the Other end of the wire and adapted to operate the same in the direction of its length, substantially as ,desc ibe and f he purpose se o th. In testimonywhereof I aifix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. DE VER HOWARD W ARNER- Witnesses: M UDE CAD WA NE CQMETE Lunn me HUBBARD. 

